Crescent Play
by Guardian Alpha
Summary: The world of T.O.M.E comes with a large variety of players, and one example is Levin, a veteran player who logs back on to investigate the current events of the world, but he picks the worst time to do so as hackers and worse begin to appear.
1. Lunar Defender

Crescent Play  
Chapter 1: Lunar Defender

Disclaimer: I do not own T.O.M.E or any of the characters involved except Levin

It was a bright day in the Terrain of Magical Expertise, a virtual game where millions of players have fun through social networking and battling. In the vast purple wasteland of Lavendera, where players battle for fun and glory, a figure appeared in a beam of light.

He was a silver clothed man of about seventeen. His hair was short and its light gray color shone brightly alongside his clothes, a simple button up jacket that was left open slightly and a pair of gray pants, his feet were bare and his toes were slightly sharpened. Two crescent moon symbols were on his forearms, and his large eyes were also silver in color. He looked around before sighing.

"Seems he's not here,"

He began walking towards a group of players nearby.

"Hey, have you guys seen another player in a purple coat with red hair?" he asked.

"Yeah, think I saw someone like that headed towards the forest,"

"Thanks," He said with a salute of his two fingers before heading off toward the forest himself.

Meanwhile, five players were huddled around a campfire talking.

The first was a young man in a purple coat and pants with angel wings and a white wolf tail sprouting from his back, his red hair spiked up above his head and his eyes were a blue color.

**Username: Alpha, Class: Fighter, Powers: Mythological**

"All I'm saying is that I could beat you guys if I really wanted to," Another figure said.

A short figure with white skin wearing a patchwork outfit of dark, and light greens. A hat stretched from on top of his head and came down to his shoulders. A sword was sheathed in his belt.

**Username: Kirbopher, Class: Swordsman, Powers: Mystic Sword**

"I doth agree with the others on this one squire, the sir Alpha seems a more capable combatant than thyself," A third spoke.

A large lizardman with orange spiky hair, similar to Alpha's, wearing dark green plate armor over his torso. His red eyes and sharp fangs made him look like a dragon in human form.

**Username: Nylocke, Class: Swordsman, Powers: Ice**

"Fine, you wanna test this out, let's go!" Kirbopher stood up and drew his sword.

"Guys, calm down, we don't need to fight about everything like this," The young lady who'd been sitting near Alpha.

She was a fair skinned youth with long orange-brown hair. Her top was dark red with orange accents and her pants were black coming down to her ankles, leaving a small space before her black boots. A dark, wiry tail and black demonic wings sprouted from her back.

**Username: Flamegirl, Class: Spellcaster, Powers: Fire**

"What about you Sir Gamecrazed, do you wish to partake in this trial of combat?" Nylocke asked the fifth member.

A figure made of purple shadows, a red A button on his forehead, a blue B button on his chest, and a pair of L and R buttons for shoulders gave him the appearance of a slimy game controller.

**Username: Gamecrazed, Class: Morphological, Powers: Shadows**

"Geez, you guys sure can talk," The silver figure said as he approached.

The group looked up at him.

"Who are you?" Alpha asked.

"Name's Levin, looking for a fellow by the name of Alpha,"

"Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, that's a long story: But I guess I have the time. A few months ago there was a few… shall we say… eccentrics who decided to come through and wreck the simple life some of we gamers lived here in T.O.M.E, and I wasn't one to sit by idly and watch my game get ruined so I stood up against them and fought them off, I had since become known as the Defender of Lavendera, but I began to get bored of T.O.M.E, amazingly, and got off for a while, after checking some of the forums it seems my title's been given to some guy named Alpha, and I want to see if he's as good as he needs to be for him to keep my title,"

"Wait, how long have you been playing this game?" Alpha asked.

"I don't know, a few months, it's been a long time since I've been on though," Levin said, putting a hand behind his head.

"Well then, if it is a challenge against Sir Alpha that you seek you have come to the right place!" Nylocke stood up from his seat and pointed at Levin.

"Really? He's here, where?" Levin asked looking around.

Alpha coughed slightly and Levin looked at him before grinning.

"Alright, seems we're getting off on the right foot," he held his arms out and two shields appeared in a white light. Each was a silver color like his clothes, but two yellow crescent moons covered the face of the shields.

"Wait, two shields?" Alpha asked.

"You'll see," Levin's grin widened, "Though I guess I should formally introduce myself,"

**Username: Levin, Class: Fighter, Power: Lunar Defender**

The others stepped back as Alpha sighed and got into a fighting stance, the background changed to a set of lines and a voice spoke to them.

"Battle, on"

Levin waited for Alpha to make the first move, keeping his shields near his torso.

Alpha lunged forward, his fist glowing red as he charged. Levin lifted his shields up and formed a wall, Alpha bounced off of them and landed some feet away, Levin disengaged his weapons before charging, throwing a right hook. Alpha jumped back and tried to punch him, but his left shield blocked the attack easily. "Moon's Radiance!" Levin was bathed in a soft silver light as he began to move faster. He threw another right hook at Alpha who dodged, but barely. Levin continued the assault, alternating arms and always keeping his shield up to defend himself from any of Alpha's counters.

"You're pretty good," Levin threw another right hook.

"You're not bad yourself, for being as rusty as you claim,"

"Well, they say a game is like riding a bike, you never really forget, and it all comes back once you get on," Levin leapt back and crashed his shields together, "But I think it's time we ended this hm?"

"Lunar Beam!"

The two crescents began to glow as they absorbed particles of silver energy. They charged up quickly and released a large blast of energy at Alpha who held up his hand and produced a green shield that blocked the attack. As the energy continued to be released their vision went white, when they could see again Levin was kneeling on the ground, his shields lying beside him. Lose! Appeared above his head and sighed with content as he leaned back on to his backside.

"Seems Lavendera's in good hands with you Alpha," Levin said.

"You didn't seem to do all that much,"

"Just take the compliment will ya?" Levin laughed to himself for a moment, "Say, you guys wouldn't mind me palling around with you for a while would you? It's been a while and I want to see what kind of changes have occurred in T.O.M.E since I've been gone,"

Alpha looked to the others who shrugged until he turned to Nylocke whose eyes were large and his ears were pointed down.

"Oh Sir Levin! The stories you must have to tell!" He shouted.

Levin looked Nylocke over before grinning. "Agreed fair dragon, I have traversed the landscape of this world as many times as the sun and moon rise and set above our heads, the trials I have endured and the combat I've seen have left me with many stories,"

The others were shocked to see Levin suddenly Roleplay so well.

"Can thou do me a favor kind dragon, allow me to accompany you and your comrades in arms as you traverse this world and leave your own stories, perhaps we can make new ones that will stand the test of time and become legends!"

Nylocke and Levin lifted their hands up, Levin had his shield on his arm and Nylocke summoned his blade.

"Agreed, noble defender, we shall travel together and lead each other into glorious legend!"

"Ny, shouldn't we check him out a little more first?" Alpha asked.

"What else is there to confirm Sir Alpha? He is a warrior of noble demeanor and fights to protect those who cannot as well,"

Levin smiled at them.

"Fine, fine, he can stay… as soon as I get a turn with him," Kirbopher approached and drew his sword, a wicked grin coming over his face.

"Hm… a challenge is it, well then young swordsman… Kir..bah…fer… yes! Kirbahfer!"

"It's Kirbopher!" He shouted as he leapt into the air, his sword coming down over Levin's head.


	2. Heavy Hackers

Crescent Play  
Chapter 2: Heavy Hackers

Disclaimer: I do not own T.O.M.E or any characters involved except Levin

It was another sunny day in the world of, The Terrain of Magical Expertise, as always. In the forest of Lavendera a group of players were currently sitting around a fire.

"So, there we were, holding off the enemy with our wits and skills, when suddenly, reinforcements arrived. We managed to defeat the extremist forces and drive them back to Mech-city where we waited them out for days until the last of them logged out of the game for the last time," Levin said.

"A noble tale sir Levin," Nylocke said from his position.

"Well, I wouldn't say noble for me, I wasn't in the front or anything, I was protecting the spellcaster line in the back,"

He crossed his arms and sat back down on his seat, "So, what's the plan for today?" He asked.

"Later, Nylocke, Gamecrazed and I are going to try and fight off some of the hackers that have been popping up lately, they usually hit around this time of the week," Flamegirl explained, "You're welcome to join if you want,"

"Fight off a bunch of hackers? Seems like a noble cause, count me in,"

"Great, now we just need to hear from Alpha before we go,"

Nylocke stood up and put a hand on his chest.

"Sir Gamecrazed and I will go and round up any other noble warriors to assist us in our cause," Nylocke said before aiming his sword and darting off, "Whoosh!"

Gamecrazed stood and bowed to them, "We shall meet up again soon," he followed Nylocke off into the distance.

Levin stood up and looked around

"What's up?" Flamegirl asked.

"Thought I heard Kirb around here," He said before wandering off.

Meanwhile, Alpha logged into the game, he looked around the purple landscape of Lavendera. A small figure was standing above him, a sword held in his hands.

"Well, it's about time," Kirbopher said

Alpha looked up as Kirb dropped down from above. He dodged his attack, standing their ground the two stared each other down.

"You know, I'm still trying to wrap my head around you," Alpha said cooly

"What-what do you mean?" Kirb asked.

"How you find screaming at the top of your lungs to be an effective opening attack,"

Kirb glared at him "Don't tell me how to play my game!"

He rushed across the intervening space and went to slash Alpha, but he dodged the attack and charged up a glowing aura around his fist before upper-cutting Kirb and sending him flying, as he landed on the ground "Lose!" appeared above his head.

"You… wanna go meet up with the guys?" Alpha asked.

"Sure…" Kirb groaned from the ground.

Levin stumbled upon the battle-ground and grinned.

"Hail companions!" He shouted to them.

"Levin, what's up?" Alpha clasped his hand as he approached.

"Nylocke and the others have something planned for those hackers, they wanted to know if you'd join 'em,"

"They're gonna be the hackers punching bags again? This is like the seventh time," Kirb said standing up from the ground.

"You're welcome to join us," Levin told him.

"I'm good, I'm gonna go play the _fun_ freakin' part of the game," he walked off leaving Alpha and Levin.

He shrugged, "His loss, come on, the others are waiting for us,"

Alpha followed Levin to Flamey and Gamecrazed.

"Where's Nylocke?" Levin asked.

"He's… somewhere around here," Flamegirl said.

"Well, I managed to recruit Alpha,"

"That's great!" She looked at Alpha

"Yeah, I figured I wouldn't do much, but you know,"

"What are you talking about? You're a really good player,"

Levin nodded.

"Now, whenever Nylocke decides to show up-"

"Hark! The age you speaketh of hase come!"

Nylocke jumped down from a nearby rock and landed next to them.

"I have gathered more comrades in arms, and told them to gather at the arranged meeting point when the little hand strikes not one, not two, but three!"

Levin looked down for a moment, "That gives us an hour,"

"Verily," Nylocke agreed.

"Well then, you guys wanna go chill in the forest?" Alpha asked.

"Nay Sir Alpha, we must practice for our battle against the foul hackers, Sir Levin, wouldst thou agree to a bit of sparring with I, Nylocke! Dragon of the Cold Steel!"

"Agreed," Levin said

"Sir Gamecrazed, accompany us on our venture so that you too can also gain benefit,"

The trio left Alpha and Flamegirl alone at the rock as they rushed off.

"Well, guess we should go to the forest, if anything to check on Kirb,"

"Yeah…"

The pair made their way to the forest where they found other groups of players sitting around large campfires telling stories, they sat in companionable silence for a while.

"So, you really think I'll be able to help with the hackers?" Alpha asked.

"Of course! Everyone knows you're a good player,"

"But what about GC or Nylocke, heck even Levin?"

"They're good too, which means we have a chance to finally beat these guys,"

"Well, when this is all over, we should come back here and hang out," Alpha told her.

"Yeah, I'd… really like that,"

Suddenly Kirb came flying into the fire, his hat catching the flames.

"Who puts a campfire here?! Who does that!? Gah!"

"Eh hem," Flamegirl said.

"Hey Kirb," Alpha added.

"So, you know those chumps I was supposed to be beating down?"

The group looked over to see a group of five players.

"Help," Kirb said simply.

"Alright, while I'm sure my 'esteemed colleague,' here deserves whatever punishment you're about to give him," Flamegirl started

"Thanks," Kirb muttered

"Only scrubs play this game without a grid,"

"What are you gonna do about it?!" One of the group asked.

"Load it up?" Alpha asked.

"Please,"

The large, grid-like background appeared and an animatronic voice said: "Battle on"

The groups charged into battle against each other, but Alpha was quickly knocked out. As he came to he entered a large white door, an empty space greeted him on the other side.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"_Hello," _a voice said in his head.

"What the? Where are you?"

"_I'm right here,"_

Alpha looked over to see a large cluster of static with the occasional flash of random yellow designs across its surface.

"What… are you?"

"_A friend,"_

"Yeah, well, what do you want?"

"_Only to help, otherwise your friends won't make it,"_

"Ok, no more mind games, tell me who you really are,"

"_I am just a friend, and if you want my help, you'll have to take me in, to let me out"_

The static flooded Alpha's body and his mind, the pain became unbearable as he began to scream.

Meanwhile, Flamegirl and Kirb managed to dispatch the last of the players before checking on Alpha.

He was standing as he approached Flamegirl, "I'm in the mood,"

She seemed taken aback at this,

"To beat some hackers,"

"Oh yeah, well, it's about time," She said.

Nylocke, Gamecrazed, and Levin were standing in front of a group of five players,

"For too long we have been the subject of these hackers ruinations, we have been unable to enjoy ourselves in our world of senseless, as we haven't been able to engage in our own senseless violence,"

"Get on with it!" A voice shouted at them.

"Right, yes, well, let us begin then comrades!"

Gamecrazed turned and saw something, freaking out he turned into a large hand and grabbed Nylocke, pulling him into the ground. Levin lifted his shields forming a wall as a barrage of bombs came down and destroyed all of the other players.

"What are we gonna do now?" Levin asked.

"Our backup is gone," GC added.

"Fine then, we fight the hackers ourselves!" Nylocke said as he drew his blade.

Two figures approached them. One a small raccoon creature with bright red eyes, the other a large, slimy green figure with a small hardened portion of his head.

**Username: Rockoon, Class: Animalistic, Power: Bombs**

**Username: Doubling, Class: Morphilogical, Power: Morphing Slime**

"Oh, you think you can take us?" Rockoon asked.

"I think this should be a cake-walk," Levin told him.

"Big man," Doubling added.

Rockoon began to spin, turning into a small tornado before throwing out a trio of bombs. Levin began to run forward, raising his shields and blocking the attacks easily.

"Uh oh," Rockoon said.

"I got this *&^" Doubling said as he bulked up his body and grabbed Levin's shields.

Levin continued to push against him, they both slid through the dirt as they tried pushing the other out of the way.

"Now guys!" Levin shouted to Nylocke and Gamecrazed, but he noticed they were staring at Alpha who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Oh, this guy looks tough," Rockoon said.

Levin disengaged from Doubling and leapt back to the others.

"That's enough," Alpha said.

"Another big man," Doubling added.

"I think we should move," Gamecrazed said.

"Indeedly so," Nylocke nodded and he and GC left the area with Levin and Flamegirl.

"I'm only gonna warn you one time, leave now,"

"I don't listen to you," Rockoon shouted as he threw bombs at Alpha.

He rushed through them using his Vulcan punch and slammed into Rockoon which caused him to roll along the floor grasping his knee.

"Ouch!"

"What's all this 'ouch' $^!%?" Doubling asked.

"The hurts man, the owie owies they don't quit!"

"ugh, let me take care of this,"

"Don't do it man!" Rockoon said

Doubling stretched his fingers out toward Alpha who projected the strange essence from before. Doublings fingers connected.

"I love you man," Rockoon said.

A flash of light staggered Doubling as he reverted to a thin state.

"And now I'm a beanpole,"

"That's enough," Alpha said.

He launched the essence at Rockoon who began to scream and gasp in pain before he eventually collapsed.

"What the *&^ is that?" Doubling shouted, "What even is that?"

"Do you yield?"

"Turn it off man, turn that $&!* off,"

Alpha went to attack but Doubling backed up "Forget this, they ain't payin' me enough, cya," he logged out.

Rockoon regain consciousness and tried to dash away, but Kirb cut him off, literally.

The two portions of Rockoon exploded as they touched the ground each producing a 'Lose!'.

"Did I miss anything?" Kirb asked.

"Only the most impressive thing I've ever seen!" Flamegirl shouted.

"What?" Alpha asked looking around.

"You just made what we've been doing look like child's play,"

"Really?"

"Most impressive Sir Alpha," Nylocke said as they approached.

"Good job," Levin said punching on the shoulder.

"Alright, alright, let me show you the _new_ most impressive thing you've ever seen," Kirb said.

"Oh, hey Kirb, when'd you get here?" Alpha asked.

Kirb's eyes widened as he screamed, leaping into the air with his sword drawn much to the surprise of everyone.


	3. Mansion Madness

Crescent Play  
Chapter 3: Mansion Madness

Disclaimer: I do not own T.O.M.E or any of the characters except Levin

11:11 PM: Lavendera Log in zone.

Kirbopher dropped into the zone and looked around.

"It is eleven PM and I am ok with it," He said with a grin.

"Kirb!" Levin shouted from a distance.

"Levin, what are you doing on so late at night?"

Levin approached him with a grin, his two shields on his arms.

"Trying to get some experience in to get my level up again, you newcomers are stronger than I was back in the day and it's hard to keep up,"

"Ah, well then, why don't you stick with me for now,"

"Sounds good," Levin nodded for Kirbopher to proceed.

Kirb nodded and led the way into a crowd of people.

"Alright ya bunch of mooks who's up next? I got one more in me before I gotta turn in," A robotic figure said from the middle of the crowd.

He was of a light purple color, and a black visor held two dark blue orbs for his eyes. His arms were large and ovalular, with a indent on his chest. His legs were replaced by a single wheel.

"Outta my way, I'll take you on," Kirbopher walked into the crowd and readied his sword.

"What about your friend there, he looks more engagin' than you," The robot said indicating Levin.

"I'm good," Levin held up a hand.

"Engaging? I'm not here to marry, I'm here to kick your ass!" Kirb shouted

"Alright kid, I'll take ya on,"

**Username: Sniperwheel, Class: Robotic, Power: Arsenal**

A grid appeared around the pair and a voice echoed to them.

"Battle, on,"

Sniperwheel and Kirbopher past each other before Sniperwheel turned on his wheel and fired a barrage of orbs at Kirbopher.

Kirb swung his sword, producing a small tornado that collected the orbs and caused them to explode safely.

Sniperwheel turned his arm into a rifle and fired a shot at Kirb who leapt over it.

"Next,"

Sniperwheel lifted his hands above his head and his chest began to expand forming a large tunnel-like cannon.

"What the- what even is that!"

"It's my death-cannon, and with my death-cannon, you die!" Sniperwheel shouted.

He began to charge the weapon, but Kirbopher walked over to him, leapt up onto the weapon, and over to Sniperwheel, who he crashed his sword into. The robot's eyes spun like roulette's until they landed on Fi- and –re the cannon blasted into the air before Kirb jumped off of him, aiming the weapon downward where it blasted a hole in the ground.

The grid disappeared and declared Kirbopher victorious.

"Well, gotta admit, not bad," Sniperwheel said as he stood back up.

"Same, how about we go again?"

"Sorry, but I am done, for the day,"

"Oh come on, it's only 11:11, what is it your bed time?"

"Hey, some of us have jobs ok, and you're like what, fourteen!?"

"I don't have to answer that,"

"Fine, if it means that much to ya I'll go one more round,"

Levin looked up and spotted Gamecrazed walking away, he pointed it out to Kirb.

"Actually, I gotta take a rain check on that,"

"What? Don't tell me you're runnin' away?"

"No, just got more important things to worry about," Kirb called back as he and Levin ran off to catch up to Gamecrazed.

"Yeah, so do I. My nine-ta-five!"

Kirbopher and Levin followed Gamecrazed into a secluded portion of the woods where they ducked behind a bush as they watched the purple shadow disappear into a mansion.

"Strange,"

"Most peculiar isn't it fellows," Nylocke said to them.

"Nylocke! Geez," Kirb shouted.

"A fair evening to you squire, and to you sir Levin,"

Levin and Nylocke grasped forearms.

"So, do you know what's up with sir Gamecrazed?" Levin asked Nylocke.

"No, even I, his most long-lasting comrade, know little when it comes to Sir Gamecrazed's person life,"

"Seems we should follow him then," Levin said

"Agreed," Nylocke nodded for them to proceed.

Kirb led the way as Levin and Nylocke followed. They entered the mansion to find it empty. The party proceeded after Gamecrazed, making sure to keep behind him so he didn't see them. After they reached the third floor they lost sight of him.

"Great, where did he go?" Kirbopher asked.

"Seems he's disappeared," Nylocke said looking around.

"You three!" A voice shouted at them.

They looked at the end of the floor to see a man approach them. He had brown hair under a fedora and wore large glasses, a purple shirt and pants combo was hidden under a white overshirt. A rounded, star-shape shield hung on his left arm.

**Username: Asterob, Class: Fighter, Power: Reflection**

"Another shield wielder?" Nylocke asked looking at Levin.

"Wait, Levin? That means you're-"

"What the?" Levin indicated the ceiling where a sickly yellow ooze was dripping.

"What is that?" Asterob asked.

It dropped from the ceiling in large blobs, trapping the group.

"Gross," Kirb said as they floated to the ceiling and got stuck.

The slime came down to the ground and formed into a woman with long yellow hair, a small helmet, and a sickly yellow leotard.

**Username: Splat, Class: Morphological, Power: Adhesive Slime**

"Alright, hand over the shield," She said to Asterob

"No! I can't, this item is still in beta, the admins only let me have to it keep people out,"

"Still in beta huh?" Kirb muttered to himself.

"I don't care, my client is paying me way more than those guys are paying you," Splat told him.

In a second, a large purple hand dropped from the ceiling and grabbed Splat. Gamecrazed was wrapped around her, trying to deplete her HP. She grinned as she released spikes from every part of her body. Gamecrazed scattered and reformed near the party as they slime wore off and they landed next to him.

"Alright, let me take care of this," Levin said as he stepped forward.

"Are you sure you can take her?" Gamecrazed asked.

"I have to," Levin said.

She chuckled.

"What are you gonna do to me old timer?"

"Lunar's Radiance!" Levin began to glow with a silver aura before charging at Splat with incredible speed. She dodged the attack, barely, as Levin swung his right shield in a massive blow. He landed behind her and quickly swung again, catching her off balance and sending her into the wall where she splashed up against the surface.

"Don't break this place please! I don't want it to take longer than it has to!"

Splat tried to attack them again, but Levin blocked her strikes easily before shrugging her off at Gamecrazed who absorbed her.

Her whole world went dark before Gamecrazed's large eye appeared before her.

"Get out, and don't come back," he said.

"Oh shi-"

She got thrown out of the building before Gamecrazed returned to the party.

"Thank you for helping me get rid of that hacker, I don't know what she'd want with my shield,"

"What's with your shield?" Levin asked.

"Well, unlike yours, mine can absorb attacks and redirect them, but it's still in beta so they haven't fully released it into the game yet," Asterob explained.

"Cool," Levin said with a grin, "Hopefully it comes out soon,"

"Yes, well, here's an item from me, in thanks,"

Asterob produced a sliver of purple material handing it to Gamecrazed.

"It's got the same properties as my shield, only it works by attacking other opponents,"

"Thank you," Gamecrazed said bowing his head.

"No, thank you, I don't know what I would've done with that hacker,"

The group bade their farewells to Asterob before leaving the mansion. They stopped outside and Gamecrazed looked at the group.

"So, how did you know to be here when the hacker attacked?"

"We followed you," Levin said.

"Sorry, we shouldn't have tried to sneak around," Kirb added.

"It is alright, it is partly my fault for not being so open with you all, in the future I will attempt to let you know more about myself,"

"Oh Sir Gamecrazed! You really do care!" Nylocke said with tears in his eyes.

"Yes, but now, I must go," Gamecrazed walked away before logging out.

"I gotta head out too," Kirb added before logging out.

"What about thou Sir Levin?"

"Yeah, I better get going," Levin opened his menu to log out, but he didn't leave immediately.

"Is there a problem?" Nylocke asked.

"No, not at all," Levin said as he logged out.

_It's getting worse: we met a moderator who was working on a new part of the game when he was attacked by a hacker. I may need your help old friend, sooner than later. Let me know when you can get back on._

_Signed, Levin_


	4. Flattery in Flames

Crescent Play  
Chapter 4: Flattery on Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own T.O.M.E or any of the characters involved except Levin and Selel

Levin blocked an attack from Nylocke, deflecting the frozen blade off of his shield with ease, he tried to counter-attack with a jab, but Nylocke leapt back to avoid the strike.

"You are doing well Sir Levin, but your offensive ability leaves much to be desired," Nylocke said.

"Like I told you, I wasn't a front-line fighter when I used to play T.O.M.E, I was in the back-lines defending the weaker members," Levin replied.

Nylocke dashed in, his sword coming around for a right-sided blow to the chest. Levin easily blocked the attack and shoved Nylocke away.

"Now!"

Nylocke jumped at the sudden outburst, "What ho?"

Levin was wide-eyed, "Sorry, force of habit," he said.

Alpha, who had been watching the sparring match looked at Levin curiously, "What habit?"

"Nothing," Levin said with a dismissive gesture.

The pair looked at him curiously before deciding to leave it at that.

"Come on, Flamey asked us to meet her in Mechcity in an hour, that gives us just enough time to get there," Alpha said leaving the area.

Levin and Nylocke followed suit, letting Alpha take the lead, meanwhile another figure followed them, keeping its distance so as to avoid detection.

This newcomer was a tanned youth who had orange hair that came down to his shoulders. His orange eyes and matching jacket-pants combo gave him the look of a very unusual fighter.

Meanwhile, in Mechcity:

Flamegirl, and two other females, one wearing a strange suit of armor with blades on her forearms and a blue visor over her face, the other a pale-skinned girl with blue hair that was wearing a long white coat that had a blue-one piece uniform underneath.

**Username: Saturndiva, Class: Fighter, Power: Double Blades**

**Username: Whyti, Class: Spellcaster, Power: Snow**

"So, tell us about this new boy-toy of yours," Saturndiva said to Flamegirl

"What, it's not like that!"

"Sure it isn't," Whyti added with a giggle.

"I swear it's not,"

"So, what's he like?"

Flamegirl considered that for a moment before answering, "He's a strong fighter first of all,"

"Uh-huh, we've heard that already, but I mean personally,"

"Well, he's kind, sweet, and friendly,"

"He sounds like the perfect guy," Whyti said dreamily.

"Cute, she thinks she's got a cartoon character boyfriend,"

"Shut up! Let me have this,"

Flamegirl laughed, "Sure, let's all go get us some cartoon character boyfriends,"

The trio laughed, without realizing they were being watched from above, a crow flew away into a dark alley where two shadows were waiting.

Nylocke, Levin, and Alpha arrived at the edge of Mechcity and Levin inhaled deeply.

"It feels good to be back here, rather than spending all our time in Lavendera," he said.

"I personally have to disagree Sir Levin," Nylocke said.

"Really? Why?"

"I do not much care for the concrete, uniform landscape in this Mechcity, I much rather prefer the lush forests of Lavendera,"

"You're saying Mechcity is uniform, are you saying you can tell all of Lavendera apart?" Levin asked.

Nylocke opened his mouth to speak when a sudden explosion in the middle of the city startled them.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, but we better find out,"

The trio jumped down into the city's limits and rushed through the streets until they found Saturndiva and Whyti.

"What happened?" Alpha asked.

"Wait, you were just-, I'm confused,"

"Tell me what happened?"

"We were talking to Flamey when you appeared over there and called her out, she ran over and then this guy appeared and caused this explosion before flying off,"

"Strange, combat isn't allowed in Mechcity outside of a grid," Levin said as he summoned his shields.

"It must be the work of some foul hackers," Nylocke declared.

"Yeah, whoever it is, we need to stop them, and find Flamegirl," Levin said.

"Come lady Whyti, you and I shall deal with this flying foe," Nylocke lifted his sword above his head before dashing off "Whoosh,"

"Whoosh!" Whyti shouted as she followed.

Saturndiva looked to Alpha and Levin, "Come on, I'll show you which way they went,"

Alpha and Saturndiva took off down the street while Levin looked around, he seemed to spot something in a different direction and took off that way.

Alpha ran ahead of Saturndiva as she explained which way to go, he arrived at a dark alley where he saw two copies of Flamegirl, one looked at him.

"There you are, oh, please, come here, my body's aching for you!"

"Shut up! You sick freak!" Flamegirl called at the copy.

"Not funny," Alpha said as he shocked the clone Flamegirl.

It transformed into a man wearing a raven's head hat on his head, with amber eyes and wings for hands. His upper torso was clad in a tight gray shirt and his legs here covered with a pair of dark gray boots and a 'skirt' of dark gray feathers, his long dark-teal hair flowed behind him.

"Come on, can't you take a joke!?" He asked as he flew up away from them.

**Username: Ravenfreak, Class: Animalistic, Power: Illusion**

Alpha went to shock him again, but Ravenfreak dodged, flying higher, toward the top of the buildings they were between.

"Well, if that's how you're going to be, how about you try this!"

He flexed one of his arms, the feathers on his wing becoming razor-sharp. He flicked his arm and the attack hurled at the duo on the ground.

"Defend!"

Levin appeared, blocking the attack completely.

"Now!"

A flaming wheel of orange fire fell from the rooftops, landing on Ravenfreak and sending him flying toward the ground. The fire bounced off his unconscious body and landed next to Levin before dispersing into the orange-clad figure from before.

"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" He shouted while he performed a fist pump.

Levin rolled his eyes.

"Who-who are you?" Alpha asked.

Levin looked back at the pair and smiled, "Allow me to introduce my partner Selel," Levin said with a bow, indicating the other young man.

"Allow me to introduce myself for a change, I can do this too ya know," He replied to Levin.

He looked at Alpha and Flamegirl and cleared his throat. "The name's Selel, I was Levin's partner back in the war, and I'm unique for using my Solar Swords,"

**Username: Selel, Class: Swordsman, Power: Solar Energy**

"Don't forget I'm still here," Ravenfreak said as he stood up, charred from Selel's attack.

"Are you still around, I thought that move would've finished you," Selel said as he looked at Ravenfreak.

He held his hands out and summoned two, orange bladed long-swords, half of a circle with wavy lines coming away from it were on each blade. Levin stepped forward and held his shields up in front of himself and Selel.

"You two go find the others, we'll take care of this guy," Levin said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, this guy's a pushover compared to the ones we fought back in the beginning," Selel added.

"If you're sure," Flamegirl led Alpha out of the alley.

"So, you two are responsible for me failing my mission," Ravenfreak said.

"If you're here for what I think you're here for, you don't want to test that," Levin answered.

"People are still after that?" Selel asked, "I thought we took care of it already,"

"I thought so too, but it seems we didn't,"

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but you will pay attention to me as I shred your bodies limb from limb!" Ravenfreak lifted into the air and poured razor-feather at them.

Levin lifted his shields, "Defend" a large, spectral barrier of silver energy appeared around him and Selel that blocked the attacks. Selel darted out of the shield as it came down and leapt off a wall, lifting his swords above his head, "Solar Slash" bringing the swords down as they trailed solar energy they burned Ravenfreak which caused him to fall to the ground.

He tried to rise again, but Levin planted his boot firmly on the hacker's back.

"Leave, now,"

Ravenfreak grinned, "Don't think this is over,"

He disappeared in the log-out light and Levin's boot connected with the pavement.

"So, how are you old friend?" Levin asked Selel

"Doing alright, but do you think this is the time?"

"The others, I forgot!"

The pair rushed out of the alley and followed the trail of fleeing players to the park where Alpha, Flamey, Sat, Whyti, and Nylocke were standing around a demonic figure in white pants. He logged out and the group saw Levin and Selel standing nearby.

"What was that about?" Levin asked.

"A hacker that we converted to the side of good, a new ally in our fight against his former allies!" Nylocke shouted triumphantly.

"What?" Selel asked.

"We convinced that guy to stop working for the hackers, he left peacefully, but what about the other one?" Flamegirl questioned.

"We took care of him," Selel grinned as he slammed his fist to his chest.

"I wonder what all this is about," Levin added, his hand on his chin.

"Doesn't matter, if there's evil, we'll get rid of 'em, just like we did in the old days," Selel added with a punched to Levin's shoulder.

"Fair enough," He smiled, letting the thought slide away for now.


End file.
